Holy Cross Volleyball Barely Falls At Colgate, 3-2

Sep 25, 2009

HAMILTON, N.Y. -
Four Crusaders tallied double-digit kills and junior setter
Chelsey O'Donnell (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had a
season-best 53 assists, but the Holy Cross volleyball team lost a
3-2 thriller to Colgate, on Friday night at Cotterell Court to
start the Patriot League season by scores of 20-25, 25-12, 23-25,
25-22 and 15-10. With the loss, the Crusaders fall to 1-13 overall
(0-1 Patriot League), while the Raiders improve to 4-7 on the
season (1-0 Patriot League). Colgate was picked to finish second in
the Patriot League Preseason Poll as they have lost in the Patriot
Tournament championship game the last two seasons.

O'Donnell now has 1,936 career
assists moving her to second on the all-time Holy Cross career
assists list. Michelle Leahy holds the record with 3,177.

Freshman Megan Lynch
(Mendham, N.J.) led the Crusaders with 20 kills making it
the third time that she has recorded 20 kills or more this season.
Lynch has now posted double-digit kills eight times this season.
Senior Samantha Surface (Fresno, Calif.) tallied a
season-best 13 kills, while sophomore Kathleen Colpoys
(Scituate, Mass.) also had 13 kills tying her career best.
Freshman Callie Black (Fallon, Nev.) also had a
strong match as she recorded a season-best 10 kills. Colpoys was
very accurate offensively as she had a .462 hitting percentage,
while Black had a .333 percentage. Junior libero Angela
Chisholm (Millis, Mass.) had an outstanding match as she
led all players with 26 digs. She has posted double-digit digs nine
times this season, including three times with over 20 digs.

Colgate was led by Kaylee Dougherty
who tallied 14 kills, while Casey Ritt and Kaleigh Durket each
recorded 12 kills. Maureen Colligan added 10 kills also giving
Colgate four players with double-digit kills.

The Crusaders won the first set by
a score of 25-20 as Lynch led Holy Cross with seven kills and
O'Donnell had 16 assists. After dropping the second set, 25-12, the
Crusaders answered with a 25-23 third-set victory. With the third
set tied at 23-23, Black and Surface recorded block assists to give
Holy Cross a 24-23 lead, then Chisholm secured the win with a
service ace. Lynch again had seven kills, while Surface had six
kills and O'Donnell had 18 assists. The fourth was another close
set as it was tied at 22-22, but Colgate won the next three points
to earn a 25-22 victory. With the fifth and deciding set tied at
6-6, Colgate moved out to an 11-6 lead. Following a Holy Cross
timeout, the Crusaders won two straight points to make the score
11-8. But Colgate took four of the last six points to win the match
by earning a 15-10 fifth-set win.

The Crusaders return to action when
they play at Bucknell on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 5:00 p.m.